A Letter to the Queen of England

•I

CO- v£ol>£~!r>

A LETTER

TO THE

QUEEN OF ENGLAND,

TOUCHING THE

SIG^S OF THE TIMES,

AND THE

POLITICAL DESTINY OF THE WORLD,

BY P. P. PRATT.

t

ffimtfxmn\ sua,

1841-

ADDRESS

To Her Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria,
Sovreign of Britain :

It has fallento the lot of your Majesty not
only to live in a most eventful period of the
world, but to occupy a station the most conspi-
cuous of any individual of the present age.

It has pleased the Almighty disposer of events
who governs and rules among the kingdoms of
the earth, to raise your Majesty, while in the
morning of life, to a throne of power, at the head
of an empire, which, in many respects, stands
foremost among the nations and kingdoms of the
world. It is with feelings of that profound res-
pect which is justly due to so high an office that I
offer this address. The importance of the sub-
ject and the obligations which 1 am under to the
God whom I serve, and to the people of the age
in which I live, are the only apologies which 1
offer for thus intruding upon the attention of your
Majesty.

Know assuredly, that the world in which we
live is on the eve of a revolution, more wonderful
in its beginning, more rapid in its progress, more
powerful in its operations, more extensive in its
effects, more lasting in its influence, and more
important in its consequences than any
which man has yet witnessed upon the earth:
a revolution in which all the inhabitants of
the earth are vitally interested, both religiously
and politically, temporally and spiritually; one
on which the fate of* all nations is suspended, and
upon which the future destiny of all the affairs of
1he earth is made to depend. Nay, the angels
• v e desired to look into it. and heaven itself has

( 3 )
waited with longing expectation for its consum
mation.

I will now proceed to show from the scriptures
first, what this revolution is; secondly, that the
present is the time of its fulfilment.
, The first great and universal monarchy after
the deluge was the kingdom of Babel, or Baby-
lon. This was founded by Nimrod, on the plains
of Euphrates, and continued to strengthen itself
until the time of Nebuchadnezzer, whom the
Lord raised up to be his servant, to execute his
vengeance upon the nations. By a series of the
most striking prophetic declarations of Jeremiah
the prophet and others, and their no less striking
fulfilment, this monarch matched forth, conquer-
ing and to conquer, till Tyre, Egypt and Judea,
and all the surrounding nations, were subdued
and brought into captivity for seventy years.
This was so extensive that Daniel the prophet
exclaimed to the king of Babylon, "The God of
Heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power,
strength and glory. And wheresoever the chil-
dren of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and
the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine
hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all."

This monarch, standing at the head of nations
and swaying his sceptre over all the kingdoms of
the world, was the favored instrument: to whom
the Almighty made known his purposes touching
the government of the world in all succeeding
ages. "While resting upon his bed in the deep
silence of midnight, when the busy world was lost
in slumbers, and wearied n.-iture hushed to silenco
and repose an anxious enquiry arose in his breast
in regard to the things which should "come to
pass*hereafter." His mind roamed down through
the dark vista of future and distant periods, and
would fain have understood and contemplated
the events of the "latter days." Thus lost in
contemplation, and overwhelmed in deep sleep

( 4 )

his mind was suddenly caught from the subject
of his meditation, aud'the visions of heaven were
opened to his view. A great image stood before
him whose head was of fine gold, his breast and
arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass, his
legs of iron, and his feet and toes part of iron and
part of clay". '* lie beheld till a stone was cut out
of the mountain without hands, which smote the
image upon the toes; then' was the whole image
broken' 10 pieces together, and became like the
chaff of the summer threshing-floor, and the wind
blew it away; but the stone became a great
mountain and filled the whole earth. When the
king awoke from this vision, he sent for his wise
men, but none of them could unfold unto him his
dream and the meaning thereof, till Daniel was
forthcoming with this striking declaration:
"Th^&re'is a God in heaven thatreveaieth secrets..'"
This" rfTan of God then proceeded to tell the
<Lteam and the interpretation thereof. The head
of gold represented Nebuchadnezzer, and the
kingdoms over which he reigned, the breast and
arms of silver represented the Medes and Per-
sians, who next succeeded in the government of
the world; the belly and thighs of brass repre-
sented the empire of Alexander and his success-
ors, this being the next in succession; the legs of
iron represented the Roman empire, which was
the fourth great monarchy of the world; and the
feet and toes, part of iron and part of clay, rep-
resented the dissolution of the Roman empire
and its subdivision into the kingdoms of f modern
Europe, as they now exist in their divided state,
partly Roman and partly Protestant, and not
cleaving one to another, even as iron and clay
will not adhere or unite in mutual strength.

Of course then, the government of England
is one of the toes of this image.

Now, "in the days of these kings, [or kingdoms
represented by the feet and toes.] the God of

( 5 ;)

heaven should set up a kingdom which should not
be left to other people, hut shouldbreak in pie-
ces all these kingdoms and stand forever," as rep r
resented by the little stone.

This is the interpretation which the God of
heaven himself gave to Daniel, and which Daniel
has given in the scriptures; and England has giv-
en the scriptures to the world — thus actually re-
vealing to the world its destiny and her own.

But before we proceed further, we shall go
back and take another view of the same subject,
as revealed to Daniel on another occasion., and
under a different figure. He saw (Dan. vii.)these
same four kingdoms, viz: the Babylonians, Medes
and Persians, Greeks, and Romans rise and reign
in succession under the figuie of four beasts. Out
of .the fourth beast he saw, under the figure of
ten horns, ten kingdoms rise, which are the same
that the feet and toes represented, viz: the king-
doms of modern Europe. "And he beheld till
the thrones were; cast down, and the Ancient of
JDays did sit, and judgment, was given to the
Saints, and the time came that the saints pos-
sessed the kingdom." Again he said, "The
saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom,
and possess the kingdom forever, even for ever
and ever." Again, "The kingdom and dominion,
and the greatness of the kingdom, under "the
whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the
saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is, an ev-
erlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve
and obey him." Again, he says, "I saw in the
night visions, and behold one like the Son of
Man, came with the clouds of heaven, and came
to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him
near before him. And there was given him do-
minion and glory, anda kingdom, thatall people, '
animations and languages should serve him; his
dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shaj}
not pass away, and his kingdom that«which shan

( 6 )

not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall
not be destroyed." The kingdom so often spok-
en of in this 7th of Daniel is evidently the same
that is represented by the stone which smote the
image, as recorded in the 22d chapter.

From this it appears that this new kingdom
will be established over the whole earth, to the
destruction of all other kingdoms, by nothing less
than the personal advent of the Messiah in the
clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, but
preceded by a personage called the "Ancient of
Days."

The 11th chapter of Zechariah confirms this
testimony, by predicting that the Lord will stand
with his feet on the mount of Olives; that he shall
come and all the saints with him, and that in thai
day there shall be one Lord, and his name One,
and he shall be king over all the earth..

The Revelation of John bears the same testi-
mony, saying, "The kingdoms of this world shall
become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ."

There are many other scripture illustrations of
the same subject, which would be extremely in-
teresting to your Majesty, and to the world, but
these must suffice.

From all these facts so clearly set forth in the
scriptures, 1 feel warranted in saying that, as
sure as all these events have succeeded each oth-
er from the days of Nebuchadnezzer, king of Bab-
ylon, until the days of Victoria I on the throne
of Britain, so sure will that portion be fulfilled
which is yet future, and which relates to the
casting down of thrones, the termination of the
political and religious establishments of the earth,
and the setting up of a new and universal king-
dom, under the immediate administration of the
Messiah and his saints.

Connected with the ushering in of this new
era will be the restoration of Judah and Israel
from their long dispersion. They will com? home

( 7 )

to their own land, and rebuild Jerusalem and the
cities of Judea, and rear up the temple of their
God. This city will be the seat of empire for the
eastern world, and all the surrounding nations
for the next thousand years at least. See Zech-

ariah 14.

This restoration will take place by a series of
riiiracles, signs, wonders, revelations, judgments
<£c. which will far exceed the dispensation of
Moses, and the deliverance of Israel from Egyp-
tian bondage. Jer. 16, Ez. 20, Isa. 1 1, Ez. 36 to
39 inclusive. With the revolution will be con-
nected the resurrection of the saints that have
slept. See Dan. xii, 2; Job xix, 25, 26, 27; and
Rev. xx.

A physical change also awaits the earth at this
time. The mountains will be thrown down, the
valleys exalted, the rough places will become
smooth and the crooked places straight, the bar-
ren deserts fruitful and the parched ground well
watered, and even the beasts of prey will be
wrought upon by the Spirit of God— will lose
their thirst for blood, and become perfectly harm-
less, feeding on vegetable food only.

Isaiah and others have written upon all these
things so extensively that it would be needless
for me to give the quotations in this place. Con-
nected with this restitution will be judgments and
eigns in heaven above and earth beneath, which
will distress the nations by famine, pestilence,
sword, tempests, hail, earthquakes, iloods and
whirlwinds, and which will finally terminate in a
fire, as fatal to all the proud and them that do
wickedly as the flood ^of Noah, and the fire that
fell upon Sodom. Then, as Noah was asurviver
of a world destroyed, and himself and family the
sole proprietors of the earth, so will the saints of
the Most High possess the earth and its'whole do-
minion, and tread upon the ashes of the wicked
See lsa. xxiv, 1 to 6, Malachi last; Luke xxi. 25

( 8 )

to 30, and Joel ii.

Having laid before your Majesty a faint des-
cription of that great revolution which awaits
the world, I now come to the second part of my
subject, viz:

THE TIME OF ITS FULFILMENT.

The- Apostles were in expectation of its imme-
diate fulfilment while Jesus was yet with them
until he taught them better. They inquired of
him, saying, "Wilt thou at this time restore the
kingdom to Israel?" But he answered them say-
ing, "It is not given for you to know the 'times
and seasons which the Father hath put in his own
power." As much as to say, it was no part of
their mission, and was not to be fulfilled in their
day. So, being corrected in this thing, the Apos-
tle Peter afterwards informs us (Acts iii.) A that the
heavens must receive Jesus Christ until the
times of restoration of all things spoken of by
the Lord, by the Holy Prophets, and that at the
times of restititution God would send him again.
Jesus himself speaks of this same time when he
says [Luke xxi.] "Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gen-
tiles be fulfilled. Paul also comes to the same
point of time, [Romans xi.] "Blindness in part is
happaned to Isiael until the fulness' of the Gen-
tiles is come in."

These texts all have an allusion'to one and the
same time, viz: the revolution of which we have
spoken.

The Lord, [Luke xxi.] after r speaking~[of the
signs of his coming, says, "When ye see these
things begin to come to pass, then know that the
kingdom of God is nigh at hand," and then says
that the generation who are witnesses of these
signs beginning to come to pass will not pass
away till all shall be fulfilled, including his sec-
ond coming and kingdom.

Now the kingdom of God here spoken of can-

( 9 )
not possibly allude to the kingdom oi God which
was set up in the days of the apostles, for that
kingdom was already at hand when the Saviour
predicted these things, and was set up immedi-
ately after his resurrection, and without the signs
spoken of in the 21st of Luke having come to
pass. Therefore he must have alluded to the
kingdom of which Daniel and others spoke,
which was to be set up "in the days of these
kings," as represented by the feet and toes of the
image: and it is well known to your Majesty,
and to all Christendom, that these ten kingdoms
out of the ruins of the Roman empire did not
arise until many hundred years afterthe days of
the apostles.

Let as here enumerate the 'signs spoken of
which are to precede theMessiah's second coming
and the setting up of his kingdom. "There shall
be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the
stars, and upon the earth distress of nations, with
perplexity — the sea and the waves roaring, men's
hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after
those things which are coming on the earth:, for
the powers of heaven shall be shaken, and then
shall they see the Son of Man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

I beg leave barely to remind your Majesty
that these signs have Tor the last ten years been
fulfilling in the eyes of all people. I need not
here particularize, or point out their fulfilment,
for passing events are too notorious to be hidden.

I now beg leave to call the attention of your
Majesty to an important discovery, which has
poured a flood of light upon these subjects, and
which fyas actually revealed, and demonstrated
that the present age is the time of their fulfil-
ment. I allude to the discovery of an ancient
record among the antiquities of America, a copy
of the translation of which was lately presented
to your Majesty; and another to his Royal High-

( io )

ness Prince Albert, by Mr. Brigham Young. The
discovery of this record and the things connected
with it, as they are now ushering in upon the
world, arc of more importance than any single
event which has transpired in modern times.
The discovery of America by Columbus 300
years since opened a "new era upon the world,
and poured a flood of light upon the startling na-
tions. They awoke from the slumber of ages,
and gazed with astonishment and wonder. As
the first transports of admiration subsided, a spirit
of enterprize seized the people, and a new im-
pulse was given to the minds of men, which has
resulted in the mighty changes in the scientific,
commercial and political departments; and which
has mainly contributed in forming all the great
outlines of modern character.

But it remained for the nineteenth century to
open a treasure of knowledge, and to present to
the world a discovery more extensive in its in-
formation, more glorious in its intelligence, and 'of
greater magnitude in its final bearing upon men
and things than all the discoveries of Columbus
and his contemporaries. I allude to this ancient
American record. By this means the history of
the past in relation to half the world, has been
opened as far back as the confusion of languages
at Babel. A nation whose ''bones are dried"
and whose ruined temples and monuments have
reposed for ages in silent, solemn and awful
grandeur, has now spoken from the dust, and re-
vealed to the world their history, and with it
their prophecies and their testimony of Jesus as
the risen Messiah, and the Savior of, the world,
not of Asia, only, but America also. From this
record, we learn the astonishing fact that the
Gospel was revealed among the ancient inhabit-
ants of that continent, and the risen Jesus minis-
tered in person unto them, seiting in order all the
offices and ordinances of his kingdom,and opening

( 11 )

all the great outlines of his doctrine, together
with a knowledge of the future down to the res-
toration -of which we -have spoken. By this
means we are enabled to come to a knowledge
of these points of doctrine and prophecy, and to
understand clearly that which has been rendered
obscure by coming down fo us through the dark
ages, robbed of its plainness by priestcraft and
superstition, and mingled with the traditions of
men. By this means we are enabled to under-
stand definitely the signs of the times, and how
and when the prophecies are to be fulfilled in re-
lation to the great revolution so cle arly set forth
in this letter. And by this means we understand
the fate of the world and the destiny to which
the nations are hastening.

This ancient record was discovered in 1827 in
Western New York in the bowels of the earth,
where it had been concealed for 1400 years. It
was there deposited by a holy prophet whose
name was Moroni, in order to preserve it, at a
time when a great nation was overthrown. It
was translated, and published in English in 1830.
Since that time it has been a principal means in
the hands of God, of working a greater revolu-
tion among men than was ever known in so
short a time. It has given rise to the Church of
Christ of Latter-Dav Saints,which was first organ-
ized with six members on the 6th of April, 1830,
but which now numbers many thousands, both in
America and'Europe.

This Church professes to hold to the ancient
order of the Gospel as revealed both in the Bible
and in this American record. They discard in-
fant baptism as an invention of priestcraft, and
hold to the baptism of penitent believers for re-
mission of sins and to the gift of the Holy Ghost
by the laying on ofhands in the name of Jesus;
and to the gifts of healing, prophecy, miracles,
<fec. as Jesus has promised in his word.

( 12 )

, The Church of the Saints thus organized upon
the ancient faith once delivered to the Saints,
must grow and flourish, and spread. among all
nations, and must increase in faith and power
and might and glory, until as a bride adorned for
her husband, she is prepared for her coming
Lord, and for the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Perhaps a few words of one of the prophets, as
contained in this ancient record will serve to
shew what is at hand to be fulfilled in plainer
terms than any modern style of language can
express. From the 57th page of the First Book
of Nephi, as contained in this ancient record, I
extract the following:

"The Lord will proceed to make bare his arm
in the eyes of all nations, in bringing about his
covenants and his gospel unto those who are of
the house of Israel. Wherefore he will bring
them again out of captivity, and they shall be
gathered together to the lan'ds of their inheritance
—and they shall be brought out of obscurity and
out of darkness, and they shall know that 'the
Lord is their Savior and their Redeemer, the
Mighty One of Israel. And the blood of that
great and abominable Church, whichis the whore
of all the earth shall turn upon their own heads,
and they shall be drunk with their own blood.
And every nation which shall war against thee O
house of Israel, shall be turned one against anoth-
er, and they shall fall into the pit which they dig-
ged to ensnare the people of the Lord; and all
that fight against Zion shall be destroyed. And
that great whore who hath perverted the ways of
the Lord, yea that great and abominable %
Church, shall tumble to the dust, and greatshall
be the fall of it. For behold the time cometh
speedily, that Satan shall have no more power
over the hearts of the children of men; for the
day soon cometh that all the proud and they
who do wickedly shall be as slubble; and the day

( M )

cometh that they must be burned. For the
time soon cometh that the fulness of the wrath
of God shall be poured out upon all the children
of men, for he will not suffer that the wicked shall
destroy the righteous, therefore he will preserve
the righteous by his power, even if it so be that
the fulness of his wrath must come, and the right-
eous preserved even unto the destruction of their
enemies by fire. Behold I say unto you that
these things must shortly come, yea, even blood,
and fire and vapour of smoke, must come, and it
must needs be upon the face of this earth; and it
cometh unto men according to the flesh, if it so be
that they harden their hearts against the Holy
One of Israel; for behold the righteous shall not
perish: for the time surely must come, that all
who fight against Zion shall be cut off. And the
Lord will surely prepare a way for his people,
unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses, which he
spake saying, "A prophet shall the Lord your
God raise up unto yon, like unto me; him you
shall hear in all things whatsoever he shall say
unto you." And it shall come to pass that all
those who shall not hear that prophet shall be cut
off from among the people.

And now I, Nephi, declare unto you that this
prophet of whom Moses spake wa» the Holy One
of Israel, wherefore he shall execute judgment in
righteousness; and the righteous need not fear,
for they are those who shall not be confounded.
But it is the kingdom of the Devil which shall be
built up among the children of men, which king-
dom is established among them which are in the
flesh, for the time speedily shall come that all the
churches which are built up to get gain, and all
those which are built up to get power over the
flesh, and those which are built up to become pop-
ular in the eyes of the world, and those who seek
the lusts of the flesh and the things of the world
and to do all manner of iniquity,— yea, in fine, all

( H )

those who belong to the kingdom of the Devil ;irc
they who need fear and tremble, and quake; they
are those who must be brought low in the dust:
they are those who must be consumed as stubble.
And the lime cometh speedily that the righteous
must be led up as calves of the stall, and the Holy
One of Israel must reign in dominion and might,
and power and great glory. And he gathereth
his children from r thc four quarters of the earth
and he numbereth his sheep and they know him,
and there shall be one fold and one shepherd ;
and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall
find pasture."

I have given the above extract from this an-
cient prophecy, in order that your Majesty and
the people of your dominion, may be aware of fu-
ture events which are nigh, even at the door.

I must close this letter by forewarning the
Sovreign and people of England, in the most af-
fectionate manner, to repent and turn to the
Lord with full purpose of heart. When I say re-
pent, I mean my message for the lords and nobles,
clergy and gentry, as well as Sovreign and peo-
ple. Let them deal their bread to the hungry —
their clothing to the naked; let them be merciful
to the poor, the need v, the sick and the afflicted,
the widow and the fatherless. — let them set the
oppressed free and break every yoke; and in or-
der to be able the more effectually to do this, let
them dispense with their pride, extravagance,
their luxury and excess, for the cries of the poor
have ascended up to heaven, and their groans
and tears have ascended up before the Lord, and
his anger is kindled and he will no longer suffer
their sufferings to go unnoticed.

In' short, let them bring forth fruits meet forre-
pentanpe,and come and be baptised in the name
of Jesus for remission of sins, and then shall they
receive the Holy Spirit,and become the saints of
the Most High, the children of light; and signs

( 15 )
shall follow them that believe; the sick shall be
healed in the name of Jesus, devils shall be cast
out, the deaf shall hear, and the dumb shall speak
and the. poor have the gospel preached unto them.

Now, if the rulers, clergy, and peeple of Eng-
land hearken to this message they shall have part
in this glorious kingdom so clearly set forth in this
letter, but if they will not hearken to the words of
the prophets and apostles,they will be overthrown
with the wicked, and perish from the earth.

The God of Israel hath sent his angel with this
message to the children of men; "to them that
dwell upon the earth, and to every nation,' and
kindred and tongue and people, saying with' a
loud voice, "fear God, and give glory to him: for
the hour of his judgment is come, and worship
him that made heaven and earth, and the sea,
and the fountains of waters."

With sentiments of profound respect, and with
the most anxious desire for the welfare and
prosperity of the Sovreign and people of Eng-
land, I have the honor to subscribe myself,

Your Majesty's Humble Servant,

And Loyal Subject,

PARLEY P. PRATT.

Manchester,' May 28, 1841.